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."
Thorby blushed. "You knew about that, Father?"
"What kind of a captain am I if I don't? Oh, I know what's worrying you. Forget it. If I give you a target, you burn it. It's up to me to kill your circuits if we make friendly identification. If I slap the God-be-thanked switch, you can't get your computer to fire, the bombs are disarmed, the launching gear is locked, the Chief can't move the suicide switch. So even if you hear me call off the action -- or you get excited and don't hear -- it doesn't matter. Finish your run; it's good practice."
"Oh. I didn't know, Father."
"Didn't Jeri tell you? You must have noticed the switch; it's the big red one, under my right hand."
"Uh, I've never been in the Control Room, Father."
"Eh? I must correct that; it might belong to you someday. Remind me . . . right after we go irrational."
"I will, Father." Thorby was pleased at the prospect of entering the mysterious shrine -- he was sure that half of his relatives had never visited it -- but he was surprised at the comment. Could a former fraki be eligible for command? It was legal for an adopted son to succeed to the worry seat; sometimes captains had no sons of their own. But an ex-fraki?
Captain Krausa was saying, "I haven't given you the attention I should, Son . . . not the care I should give Baslim's son. But it's a big family and my time is so taken up
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